


Childhood Memories

by Lokisgame



Series: Sweet Nothings [8]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Light Angst, post hijacking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-28 02:43:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17174357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lokisgame/pseuds/Lokisgame
Summary: “It’s just that, you have so many happy memories, mine are nothing compared to this.”





	Childhood Memories

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a [MSR Polaroid](https://msrpolaroidproject.tumblr.com/post/181397897656/merry-christmas-from-the-spookies-photo-by) on tumblr

Scully took the picture and after shaking it a little, gave it a brief glance. The smile she expected wasn't there, and when she turned to face him, she saw Mulder play with the camera. They sat on the floor looking through old photo albums, while Maggie cleaned up after dinner in the kitchen, giving them a moment alone together.  
“What is it?” She asked, squeezing his thigh lightly.  
“Nothing,” he sighed, forcing a brief smile, “the film is almost gone.”  
“We’ve got more,” she smiled, climbing into his lap and cupping his cheek to make him look her in the eye. “What’s wrong?”  
“Nothing, really,” this time his smile looked more real, be it his arm around her or hers around him. “It’s just that, you have so many happy memories, mine are nothing compared to this.”  
“It wasn’t all bad,” she said softly, stroking his hair soothingly, “was it?”  
“Sam was eight, and I was twelve when she disappeared, I didn’t,” he paused, then chuckled without humor, “I wasn’t old enough to appreciate her.”  
“Mulder,” she sighed, wrapping him in her arms, feeling him about to crack.  
“All we did was argue,” he whispered, hiding in her neck. “All the time, it drove my mom crazy.”  
Hugging him tighter, she kept her tone bright, “All siblings fight. These pictures won’t show you how I cried when Bill broke my first china cup, or how Missy got mad when Charlie found her brand new diary and drew stick figures on every page with every crayon he had.”  
That earned her a laugh and she kissed his cheek before making him look at her.  
“Try to remember something good,” she said, keeping his face in her hands.  
Mulder’s brow furrowed, his lips twitched uncertain, stumbling around vaults of his eidetic memory.  
“I must have been seven or eight,” he said slowly after a long minute, his gaze fixed on something far away, “we were visiting my grandmother for Christmas. A very strict woman, I was always a little scared of her.”  
“Who’s side?”  
“My dad’s. She had this huge house, or at least it felt that way, and mind you, Sam was three or four, still scared of dark and sneaking into my parents’ bed every night, but my dear grandma insisted, she was old enough to be over it and made us sleep in separate rooms, and my mom, probably not wanting to get into another argument, agreed.” Scully scoffed, rolling her eyes, as he continued. “We all went to bed, lights out, everything seemed fine, until sometime later, someone climbed into my bed.”  
“Samantha?”  
“She couldn’t find mom and dad’s room, and mine was the closest.”  
“So she came to you.”  
“Yeah.”  
“What did you do?”  
“It was Christmas Eve and it snowed, so we sat by the window wrapped in blankets and waited for Santa.”  
Scully felt him pull her closer, resting his forehead against hers, finally smiling again.  
“Did you catch him?”  
“No, we fell asleep.”  
“That’s a very good memory.” She said, bumping his nose and making the smile wider. “Tell me more.”


End file.
